Find a line for your speech or toast
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson, grieving his best friend, wrote that 'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Today the loss is enormous. So was the love, and…
Essay opener · ~12s“'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson's line “'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all” is now a breakup cliché, but it was written in grief for his friend Arthur…
Sympathy card · ~9s“'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson wrote, 'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Your love for him was so plain to see. We are holding you close.
Christmas · ~8s“'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”Clement Clarke Moore
'Twas the night before Christmas, and for once in this house, not a creature was stirring, not even the kids. Let's enjoy it while it lasts.
Team talk · ~10s“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln borrowed a line from the Bible: a house divided against itself cannot stand. We can disagree in this room all we like, but when we walk out that door, we are…
Essay opener · ~8s“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”Abraham Lincoln
When Abraham Lincoln warned in 1858 that “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” he was arguing that the compromise over slavery could not last.
Graduation · ~10s“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”Laozi
Laozi wrote that a journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your feet, right where you're standing. You're standing on this stage. That's where it begins.
Team talk · ~9s“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”Laozi
The Tao Te Ching says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The season is long. Today we just win the first step.
Essay opener · ~11s“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”Laozi
The proverb “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” translates chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching, which more literally says the journey “starts beneath…
Graduation · ~10s“A little learning is a dangerous thing.”Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope warned that a little learning is a dangerous thing: drink deep, or taste not. Today you've had a long drink. Keep drinking deep.
Essay opener · ~12s“A little learning is a dangerous thing.”Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope's warning that “a little learning is a dangerous thing” is often misquoted as “a little knowledge,” and its second line, “Drink deep, or taste not the…
Thank a teacher · ~8s“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”Henry Adams
Henry Adams wrote that a teacher affects eternity, and can never tell where his influence stops. Yours won't stop with me. Thank you for this year.
Retirement · ~11s“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”Henry Adams
Henry Adams said a teacher affects eternity and can never tell where their influence stops. After thirty-two years and thousands of students, we can tell you: it doesn't.
Graduation · ~8s“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”Henry Adams
Henry Adams wrote that a teacher affects eternity. Before we leave, let's thank the teachers whose influence will go with us wherever we go.
Wedding toast · ~11s“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”John Keats
John Keats wrote that a thing of beauty is a joy for ever; its loveliness increases. That's our wish for your marriage: that it keeps growing more lovely every year.
Essay opener · ~11s“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”John Keats
Keats opens Endymion with the claim that “a thing of beauty is a joy for ever,” arguing that beauty offers lasting refuge, “a bower quiet for us,” against the gloom of…
Essay opener · ~15s“Ain't I a woman?”Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech in Akron is best known through Frances Dana Gage's 1863 version, with its refrain “Ar'n't I a woman?”, though the earliest report,…
Essay opener · ~9s“Alea iacta est.”Julius Caesar
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon he reportedly said, “the die is cast.” For our town, the decision to close the old mill was that kind of moment.
Team talk · ~10s“Alea iacta est.”Julius Caesar
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon, he said the die is cast. We've signed up, we've trained, there's no turning back now. Let's go and make the roll count.
Essay opener · ~9s“All art is quite useless.”Oscar Wilde
Wilde closed his defense of Dorian Gray with a deliberate provocation, “All art is quite useless,” meaning that art should be judged by its beauty, not by the lessons…
Retirement · ~11s“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote that all the world's a stage, and one man in his time plays many parts. Tonight you exit one stage. We can't wait to see your next part.
Graduation · ~9s“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”William Shakespeare
As You Like It tells us all the world's a stage, and we all have our exits and our entrances. Today is an exit, and an entrance.
Essay opener · ~10s“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”William Shakespeare
Jaques's claim that “all the world's a stage” in As You Like It reduces human life to seven predictable acts, a view the rest of the play gently disputes.
Birthday · ~8s“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare said all the world's a stage and one man in his time plays many parts. Happy birthday. You're playing this one brilliantly.
Essay opener · ~8s“Amor fati.”Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche's phrase amor fati, love of fate, asks something harder than acceptance: to want one's life exactly as it has been.
Graduation · ~11s“Amor fati.”Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche had a phrase, amor fati, love your fate. Not every year here went to plan. Love it anyway. It made you who you are walking across this stage.
Team talk · ~10s“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”Benjamin Franklin
Ben Franklin said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. He was talking about house fires. For us it means ten minutes of warm-up beats six weeks on the…
Essay opener · ~8s“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin's maxim that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” first appeared in 1735, in a letter about preventing house fires in Philadelphia.
Graduation · ~12s“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”Charles Dickens
Mr Micawber had the whole of personal finance in two sentences: income twenty pounds, spending nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Spending twenty pounds and…
Essay opener · ~7s“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”Charles Dickens
Dickens's Micawber reduces budgeting to a single sixpence: just under your income is “happiness,” just over is “misery.”
Mother's Day · ~10s“Arise, then, women of this day!”Julia Ward Howe
The first person to call for a Mother's Day, Julia Ward Howe, wanted mothers to arise and change the world. Mom, you did that for us, one school run at a time.
Essay opener · ~8s“Arise, then, women of this day!”Julia Ward Howe
Julia Ward Howe's “Arise, then, women of this day!” reminds us that Mother's Day began not as a celebration of mothers but as a summons to them.
Graduation · ~10s“Ars longa, vita brevis.”Hippocrates
Hippocrates began his book for doctors with four words we still quote in Latin: ars longa, vita brevis. The craft is long, life is short. So don't wait to start.
Retirement · ~8s“Ars longa, vita brevis.”Hippocrates
Ars longa, vita brevis: the craft is long and life is short. After forty years, you came as close to mastering ours as anyone I know.
Essay opener · ~9s“Ars longa, vita brevis.”Hippocrates
When Hippocrates wrote that “life is short, and art long,” the art he meant was medicine, and the warning was to doctors who must decide before they can ever know enough.
Graduation · ~15s“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”John F. Kennedy
In 1961 a new president stood in the snow and told the country: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Today I'd change one…
Team talk · ~12s“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”John F. Kennedy
Kennedy put it simply: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Swap in the name of this team. Before you ask what the team can…
Essay opener · ~10s“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”John F. Kennedy
When John F. Kennedy urged Americans in 1961 to “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,” he was recasting citizenship as an…
Graduation · ~15s“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”Mahatma Gandhi
There's a famous line credited to Gandhi: be the change you wish to see in the world. He never said it in those words. What he actually wrote was even better: we need…
Essay opener · ~10s“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”Mahatma Gandhi
The popular slogan “be the change you wish to see in the world” is a modern paraphrase of Gandhi's 1913 observation that “if we could change ourselves, the tendencies…
Valentine's Day · ~6s“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”Traditional proverb
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lucky me, because I get to behold you every day.
Essay opener · ~10s“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”Traditional proverb
The saying that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is usually credited to Shakespeare, but its exact wording first appears in an 1878 novel, where a character is…
Essay opener · ~8s“Beauty is its own excuse for being.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson's rhodora blooms unseen in the woods, and his answer to anyone who calls that a waste is simple: “Beauty is its own excuse for being.”
Essay opener · ~9s“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”John Keats
Keats gives his famous equation, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” not to the poet but to a silent marble urn, which makes the claim as puzzling as it is memorable.
Wedding toast · ~7s“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”John Keats
Keats wrote that beauty is truth, and truth beauty. Looking at the two of you today, I finally understand what he meant.
Graduation · ~9s“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin warned, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” That goes for habits as well as money. Watch the small things.
Essay opener · ~7s“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”Benjamin Franklin
Franklin's “small leak” that sinks “a great ship” captures how ordinary spending, not dramatic losses, empties most budgets.
Wedding toast · ~6s“Blood is thicker than water.”Traditional proverb
They say blood is thicker than water. Well, as of today, you're blood. Welcome to the family.
Essay opener · ~9s“Blood is thicker than water.”Traditional proverb
“Blood is thicker than water” has been used for at least 350 years to argue that family comes first, despite a popular modern claim that it once meant the opposite.
Retirement · ~9s“Brevity is the soul of wit.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare said brevity is the soul of wit, so I'll keep this short. Thank you, we'll miss you, and the coffee machine will never be the same.
Essay opener · ~11s“Brevity is the soul of wit.”William Shakespeare
Polonius's maxim that “brevity is the soul of wit” is funny precisely because he delivers it in the middle of a long-winded speech, a joke Shakespeare's audience would…
Graduation · ~12s“Carpe diem.”Horace
The Roman poet Horace wrote carpe diem, usually translated seize the day, but it really means pluck the day, like ripe fruit. Don't just rush through these years.…
Retirement · ~9s“Carpe diem.”Horace
Horace said carpe diem, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow. For thirty years you worked for tomorrow. Now go and enjoy today.
Essay opener · ~10s“Carpe diem.”Horace
Horace's “carpe diem” is less a call to seize opportunity than an invitation to “pluck” the present like ripe fruit, “trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.”
Birthday · ~6s“Carpe diem.”Horace
Carpe diem: pluck the day, like ripe fruit. Today's a particularly good one to pluck. Happy birthday.
Christmas · ~10s“Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents.”Louisa May Alcott
As Jo March grumbles in Little Women, Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents. Luckily, by the end of the chapter she works out that the best ones are the…
Essay opener · ~8s“Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents.”Louisa May Alcott
Little Women opens with a complaint, “Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,” and spends its first chapters quietly proving Jo wrong.
Team talk · ~13s“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Caesar said cowards die many times before their deaths, but the valiant taste of death only once. Worrying about losing is losing over and over. Go out…
Eulogy & funeral · ~9s“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote that the valiant never taste of death but once. He faced his illness without fear, and lived every day of it.
Essay opener · ~10s“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”William Shakespeare
Caesar's boast that “cowards die many times before their deaths” is spoken hours before his assassination, turning a statement of courage into dramatic irony.
Essay opener · ~9s“Curiosity killed the cat.”Traditional proverb
In Shakespeare's day it was not curiosity but care, meaning worry, that killed the cat, and the change says a lot about which vice each age feared most.
Essay opener · ~12s“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill told the House of Commons in 1947 that “it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been…
Team talk · ~10s“Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.”Traditional proverb
We had a bad season, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our defense was the best in the league. We keep that, and we fix the rest.
Essay opener · ~8s“Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.”Traditional proverb
Critics who want to scrap standardized testing altogether risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater, a German proverb first printed in 1512.
Graduation · ~15s“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela, who spent his life fighting a system that tried to keep millions of children uneducated, said that education is the most powerful weapon which you can…
Essay opener · ~10s“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela called education “the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” a striking choice of words from a leader whose country had used…
Thank a teacher · ~8s“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela called education the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. Thank you for arming us so well this year.
Essay opener · ~10s“Elementary, my dear Watson.”Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes never says “Elementary, my dear Watson” in any of Arthur Conan Doyle's sixty stories; the phrase was assembled later by parodists and filmmakers.
Eulogy & funeral · ~11s“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”Gospel of Luke
She took one line from the Gospel more seriously than anyone I've known: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” She forgave quickly, and she never…
Essay opener · ~9s“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”Gospel of Luke
Luke's Jesus, at the moment of greatest injustice, prays not for rescue but for his executioners: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Essay opener · ~10s“Give me liberty, or give me death!”Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry's cry of “give me liberty, or give me death!”, as recorded by his biographer William Wirt in 1817, captured the colonists' turn from protest to armed…
Christmas · ~9s“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”Gospel of Luke
Two thousand years ago, the story goes, angels sang peace on earth, good will toward men. This year more than ever, that sounds like the right thing to drink to.
Essay opener · ~9s“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”Gospel of Luke
The angels' song in Luke 2:14, “on earth peace, good will toward men,” has been printed on more Christmas cards than perhaps any other line of scripture.
Christmas · ~7s“God bless us, every one!”Charles Dickens
Before we eat, let me borrow a line from Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. God bless us, every one. Especially the ones who cooked.
Essay opener · ~9s“God bless us, every one!”Charles Dickens
Dickens ends A Christmas Carol not with Scrooge but with Tiny Tim's blessing, “God bless us, every one,” handing the last word to the poorest child in the book.
Essay opener · ~12s“God does not play dice with the universe.”Albert Einstein
Einstein's famous objection to quantum mechanics, usually quoted as “God does not play dice,” comes from a 1926 letter to Max Born in which he wrote that the theory…
Essay opener · ~11s“Good fences make good neighbors.”Robert Frost
“Good fences make good neighbors” is often quoted as Robert Frost's advice, but in “Mending Wall” the line belongs to a neighbor the speaker gently mocks for repeating…
Essay opener · ~12s“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln closed the Gettysburg Address by vowing that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” framing the Civil War…
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”Abraham Lincoln
At Gettysburg, Lincoln said the best way to honor those who had died was to carry on the work they cared about. That is what we can do for her too.
Memorial & Veterans Day · ~9s“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”Abraham Lincoln
At Gettysburg Lincoln asked the living to resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain. On this Memorial Day, that is still our task.
Thanksgiving · ~9s“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cicero called gratitude not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. So tonight let's practice the parent. Thank you all for being here.
Thank a teacher · ~9s“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Roman writer Cicero said gratitude is the parent of all the other virtues. You taught us plenty of the others, so this card is the parent. Thank you.
Essay opener · ~9s“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cicero called gratitude “the mother of all the rest” of the virtues, a claim he made not in a treatise but while defending the friend who had sheltered him in exile.
Wedding toast · ~12s“Great minds think alike.”Traditional proverb
When they told me they'd both secretly booked the same restaurant for their first date anniversary, all I could say was: great minds think alike. Or, as the saying…
Essay opener · ~8s“Great minds think alike.”Traditional proverb
“Great wits jump,” wrote Laurence Sterne, and when two inventors file the same patent on the same day, it is tempting to agree.
Memorial & Veterans Day · ~10s“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”Gospel of John
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The names on this memorial are the people who showed that love. We will not forget them.
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”Gospel of John
The Gospel says greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He did exactly that, and every one of us is here because of it.
Anniversary · ~8s“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.”Robert Browning
Robert Browning wrote, grow old along with me, the best is yet to be. Thirty years in, I'm still taking him at his word. Happy anniversary.
Birthday · ~8s“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.”Robert Browning
Browning said the best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Happy birthday. Here's to the best part.
Wedding toast · ~8s“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.”Robert Browning
Robert Browning wrote, grow old along with me, the best is yet to be. Today you start doing exactly that. To the bride and groom.
Mother's Day · ~8s“Her children arise up, and call her blessed.”Book of Proverbs
Proverbs says, her children arise up, and call her blessed. So consider this card us arising, Mom. You are blessed, and so are we.
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“Her children arise up, and call her blessed.”Book of Proverbs
Proverbs 31 says of a good woman, her children arise up, and call her blessed. Today, all of us who were her children, and her grandchildren, stand up to do exactly that.
Graduation · ~13s“Hitch your wagon to a star.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson told us to hitch our wagon to a star. He didn't mean wish on one. He meant find something bigger than yourself that's already moving, and let it pull you. Find…
Essay opener · ~12s“Hitch your wagon to a star.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson's advice to “hitch your wagon to a star” is usually read as a call to ambition, but in his essay “Civilization” it describes harnessing forces larger than…
Mother's Day · ~6s“Honour thy father and thy mother.”Book of Exodus
The commandment says honour thy father and thy mother. Today is my day to honour you, Mom. Thank you for everything.
Father's Day · ~6s“Honour thy father and thy mother.”Book of Exodus
Honour thy father, the Bible says. So, Dad, consider yourself honored, and also in charge of the grill.
Eulogy & funeral · ~11s“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson called hope the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and never stops at all. Even in her last months, that bird never stopped singing in her.
Graduation · ~11s“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson wrote that hope is the thing with feathers, and it sings in the chillest land and on the strangest sea. Wherever you land next, keep it with you.
Essay opener · ~10s“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”Emily Dickinson
In “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” Emily Dickinson turns an abstract idea into a small, persistent bird that sings through every storm and asks nothing in return.
Sympathy card · ~9s“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson wrote that hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. When you are ready, may you feel it again. Until then, we are here.
Team talk · ~12s“Houston, we have a problem.”Jack Swigert
When an oxygen tank blew up on Apollo 13, the crew didn't panic. Jack Swigert just said, “Houston, we've had a problem here.” Then they worked the problem. That's what…
Essay opener · ~12s“Houston, we have a problem.”Jack Swigert
The words radioed from Apollo 13 on April 13, 1970, were not “Houston, we have a problem” but “Houston, we've had a problem here,” spoken by Jack Swigert and repeated…
Valentine's Day · ~8s“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Elizabeth Barrett Browning got to fourteen lines. I'd need a lot more paper. Happy Valentine's Day.
Anniversary · ~10s“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, I love thee to the level of every day's most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. That's what the years have been with you. Happy…
Wedding toast · ~8s“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning asked, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. May you two spend the rest of your lives counting. To the couple.
Team talk · ~15s“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”Winston Churchill
When Churchill took over in 1940, he didn't promise an easy win. He said: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. I'm not promising this season will…
Essay opener · ~8s“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”Winston Churchill
Churchill's first speech as Prime Minister in May 1940 offered “nothing ... but blood, toil, tears and sweat,” a deliberate refusal to promise easy victory.
Graduation · ~12s“I know that I know nothing.”Socrates
Socrates said he was wiser than others only because he didn't think he knew what he didn't know. After four years here, the best thing you can take with you is that…
Essay opener · ~10s“I know that I know nothing.”Socrates
The slogan “I know that I know nothing” compresses a subtler claim in Plato's Apology, where Socrates says only that he does not think he knows what he does not know.
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale is remembered for saying he only regretted having one life to give for his country. He gave his to his family, completely, every day.
Essay opener · ~12s“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”Nathan Hale
The words attributed to Nathan Hale before his execution in 1776, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” survive only through later…
Memorial & Veterans Day · ~9s“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale, facing death at twenty-one, said he regretted having only one life to lose for his country. We gather to remember those who gave theirs.
Essay opener · ~9s“I think, therefore I am.”René Descartes
Descartes's “I think, therefore I am” was the first certainty he reached after resolving to doubt everything, including his senses and the existence of the world.
Graduation · ~14s“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.”Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately, so that when he came to die, he would not discover he had not lived. You don't need a cabin. You need…
Eulogy & funeral · ~9s“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.”Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau wrote that he wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. She did exactly that. Nobody could say she didn't live.
Essay opener · ~10s“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.”Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau's reason for moving to Walden Pond, “because I wished to live deliberately,” frames the experiment not as escape but as a search for the essential facts of life.
Christmas · ~10s“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”Charles Dickens
Scrooge promised, I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. So here's to the kindness of this week lasting a little longer than the leftovers.
New Year · ~8s“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”Charles Dickens
My resolution comes from Scrooge: to honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. Fewer gadgets, more generosity.
Essay opener · ~9s“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”Charles Dickens
Scrooge's vow to “honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year” defines the holiday not as a date but as a way of treating people.
Team talk · ~11s“I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan, the greatest player ever, said he'd failed over and over and over again, and that's why he succeeded. We lost last week. Good. Now we learn from it.
Graduation · ~10s“I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan said, I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed. You're going to fail out there. Fail forward.
Essay opener · ~12s“I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan's line “I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” comes from a 1997 Nike commercial, yet it has become a genuine…
Graduation · ~12s“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton said that if he had seen further, it was by standing on the shoulders of giants. Look around. Your giants are in this room, your parents and your…
Retirement · ~9s“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”Isaac Newton
Newton said he saw further by standing on the shoulders of giants. For a whole generation of engineers here, you were that giant.
Essay opener · ~11s“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”Isaac Newton
Newton's famous tribute, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants,” borrowed a twelfth-century image and was written to his bitter rival,…
Thank a teacher · ~6s“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton said he saw further by standing on the shoulders of giants. You were one of mine. Thank you.
Graduation · ~15s“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass said that if there is no struggle, there is no progress. People who want change without discomfort, he said, want crops without plowing up the…
Team talk · ~8s“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass said: if there is no struggle, there is no progress. Today is going to be a struggle. Good. That's how we get better.
Essay opener · ~8s“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass argued in 1857 that “if there is no struggle there is no progress,” insisting that “power concedes nothing without a demand.”
Graduation · ~12s“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”Albert Einstein
Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge, because knowledge is limited and imagination encircles the world. You leave here with a lot of knowledge.…
Essay opener · ~10s“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”Albert Einstein
When Albert Einstein told an interviewer in 1929 that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” he was describing the thought experiments behind his own…
Thanksgiving · ~11s“In every thing give thanks.”Paul the Apostle
Paul wrote, in every thing give thanks. Not for everything. This year had its share of things none of us would choose. But in all of it, we still had each other.
Sympathy card · ~7s“In every thing give thanks.”Paul the Apostle
“In every thing give thanks.” We give thanks for the years we had with her, and we are holding you in our prayers.
Memorial & Veterans Day · ~11s“In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row.”John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row. John McCrae wrote those words in 1915 for the friends he buried. Today we wear the poppy for ours.
Eulogy & funeral · ~7s“In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row.”John McCrae
He served, and like the soldiers in John McCrae's poem, he lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and was loved.
Retirement · ~10s“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin said nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes. After tonight I'd add a third: that this place won't be the same without you.
Essay opener · ~8s“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin observed in 1789 that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” borrowing a saying already decades old.
Essay opener · ~12s“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”Martin Luther King Jr.
Writing from a jail cell in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. insisted that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” because all communities are bound in “an…
Graduation · ~15s“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King wrote from a jail cell that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. You will soon live in many different places. Wherever you end up,…
Wedding toast · ~13s“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”Jane Austen
Jane Austen wrote that it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. In James's case, the fortune…
Essay opener · ~10s“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice opens with a “truth universally acknowledged” that is anything but, a sly signal that Austen's narrator will be ironic from the very first sentence.
Father's Day · ~9s“It is a wise child that knows his own father.”Homer
In the Odyssey, Telemachus says it is a wise child that knows his own father. I'm lucky. I've always known exactly who you are, Dad: the best.
Essay opener · ~8s“It is a wise child that knows his own father.”Homer
When Telemachus says “it is a wise child that knows his own father,” he is joking, but the Odyssey is in part a search for exactly that knowledge.
Father's Day · ~10s“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote, it is a wise father that knows his own child. Dad, you always knew exactly what I was up to. That's wisdom, or a very good memory. Happy Father's Day.
Graduation · ~15s“It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt said it is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena, who dares greatly, even if they fail. Starting…
Team talk · ~12s“It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt said the credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. Nobody watching from the stands gets a vote today. We do.
Retirement · ~12s“It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt wrote that the credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena. For thirty years, you never once watched from the side. You were always in…
Thanksgiving · ~11s“It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.”George Washington
In 1789 George Washington asked the new nation to be grateful for its blessings and for the chance to build its government in peace. That second one feels worth…
Essay opener · ~9s“It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.”George Washington
Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation thanked God above all for the chance “peaceably to establish a form of government,” an unusual thing to be grateful for,…
Graduation · ~13s“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”Charles Dickens
Dickens wrote, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us. That's every graduating class in history.…
Essay opener · ~11s“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”Charles Dickens
Dickens's famous opening, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” ends with a jab at the “noisiest authorities” of every era who insist their own age is…
Graduation · ~10s“Jack of all trades, master of none.”Traditional proverb
You've been called a jack of all trades, master of none. Good. The world's hardest problems sit between the trades, and someone has to speak all their languages.
Essay opener · ~10s“Jack of all trades, master of none.”Traditional proverb
The proverb “jack of all trades, master of none” began as a neutral description in 1618; only later did it acquire its sting, and only recently its flattering sequel.
Wedding toast · ~11s“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote that love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. Love is an ever-fixed mark. May yours stay fixed through every storm.
Essay opener · ~8s“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.”William Shakespeare
Sonnet 116 defines love by what it is not: it does not alter when circumstances change, and it is not “Time's fool.”
Anniversary · ~11s“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote that love alters not with brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom. Twenty years in, I can confirm he was right. Happy…
Valentine's Day · ~7s“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.”William Shakespeare
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. Shakespeare, Sonnet 116. Me, every day. Happy Valentine's Day.
Wedding toast · ~11s“Love is patient, love is kind.”Paul the Apostle
Paul wrote that love is patient, love is kind, it keeps no record of wrongs, and it never fails. I've watched these two practice every one of those, especially the…
Eulogy & funeral · ~9s“Love is patient, love is kind.”Paul the Apostle
Paul wrote that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. That was how she loved her family.
Essay opener · ~10s“Love is patient, love is kind.”Paul the Apostle
Paul's famous description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, “love is patient, love is kind,” was addressed not to a couple but to a church divided by pride and rivalry.
Valentine's Day · ~6s“Love is patient, love is kind.”Paul the Apostle
Love is patient, love is kind. You are both, especially when I'm neither. Happy Valentine's Day.
Anniversary · ~8s“Love is patient, love is kind.”Paul the Apostle
At our wedding someone read, love is patient, love is kind. Every year since, you've shown me what those words look like. Happy anniversary.
Essay opener · ~9s“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.”Gospel of Matthew
The command to “love your enemies” is grounded, in Matthew, not in sentiment but in imitation of a God who “sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Eulogy & funeral · ~11s“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.”Gospel of Matthew
He was the only person I knew who actually tried to live by “love your enemies.” He didn't always manage it. But he never stopped trying, and it made him the kindest…
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“Memento mori.”Unknown
The Romans had a phrase, memento mori, remember that you will die. Mum never needed reminding. She lived every day as if she knew how precious it was.
Essay opener · ~8s“Memento mori.”Unknown
Long before self-help books, the Romans had a two-word reminder for the proud and the busy alike: memento mori, remember that you must die.
Team talk · ~11s“Mens sana in corpore sano.”Juvenal
The Romans had a phrase, mens sana in corpore sano, a healthy mind in a healthy body. Training is only half the job. Rest, eat well and come back with your head clear.
Graduation · ~9s“Mens sana in corpore sano.”Juvenal
The poet Juvenal said that of everything you could wish for, the best is a healthy mind in a healthy body. I wish you more than that, but never less.
Essay opener · ~8s“Mens sana in corpore sano.”Juvenal
Juvenal's “mens sana in corpore sano” was not a fitness slogan but the end of a prayer list: the one wish he thought worth making.
Essay opener · ~10s“Money is the root of all evil.”Paul the Apostle
People often say the Bible calls money the root of all evil, but 1 Timothy 6:10 actually warns that “the love of money is the root of all evil,” a very different claim.
Mother's Day · ~8s“Mothers are the best lovers in the world.”Louisa May Alcott
Jo March says in Little Women that mothers are the best lovers in the world, meaning nobody loves you like your mom. She was right. Happy Mother's Day.
Essay opener · ~8s“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”Ronald Reagan
When Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987 and demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”, few expected the wall to fall within three years.
Graduation · ~13s“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”William Shakespeare
Polonius told his son, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend.” Four hundred years later, with student loans in the picture,…
Father's Day · ~10s“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”William Shakespeare
Dad never quoted Hamlet, but he lived by one line of it: neither a borrower nor a lender be. He paid cash, and he never lost a friend over money.
Essay opener · ~7s“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”William Shakespeare
Polonius's warning that a loan “oft loses both itself and friend” treats debt as a social risk as much as a financial one.
Retirement · ~10s“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”Winston Churchill
Churchill once said that never was so much owed by so many to so few. In this office it was never even a few. It was one person, and we all know who.
Team talk · ~10s“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”Winston Churchill
Churchill said of a handful of pilots: never was so much owed by so many to so few. Tonight, a few of you carried this whole group. Thank you.
Memorial & Veterans Day · ~10s“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”Winston Churchill
Churchill said of the pilots of 1940, never was so much owed by so many to so few. Today we remember the few from our own town, and everything we owe them.
Graduation · ~11s“No man ever steps in the same river twice.”Heraclitus
Heraclitus said you can never step in the same river twice. This place will change after you leave, and so will you. That's not a loss. That's the point.
Retirement · ~10s“No man ever steps in the same river twice.”Heraclitus
Heraclitus said no one steps in the same river twice. You changed this company, and it changed you, and neither of you will be the same.
Essay opener · ~10s“No man ever steps in the same river twice.”Heraclitus
The saying “no man ever steps in the same river twice” paraphrases fragments of Heraclitus preserved by later writers, who reported his view that everything is in…
Eulogy & funeral · ~13s“No man is an island, entire of itself.”John Donne
John Donne wrote that no man is an island, and that any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. Today all of us, the whole continent he was part…
Essay opener · ~12s“No man is an island, entire of itself.”John Donne
John Donne's “No man is an island” comes not from a poem but from a 1624 prose meditation written during a near-fatal illness, as he listened to a church bell tolling…
Sympathy card · ~9s“No man is an island, entire of itself.”John Donne
John Donne wrote that no man is an island, and every death diminishes us. Her loss is felt by everyone who knew her. You are not alone.
New Year · ~9s“No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference.”Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb wrote two hundred years ago that no one ever regarded the first of January with indifference. Judging by tonight's noise level, nothing has changed.
Essay opener · ~8s“No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference.”Charles Lamb
“No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference,” wrote Charles Lamb, because it is the one day when everyone counts up time together.
New Year · ~12s“Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”Mark Twain
Mark Twain said now is the time to make your annual good resolutions, and next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. So keep yours small. Small ones make…
Essay opener · ~12s“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York.”William Shakespeare
The opening line of Richard III, “Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this son of York,” announces the end of hard times, though it is almost…
Thanksgiving · ~8s“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.”Book of Psalms
Before we eat, a short grace from Psalm 107. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. Amen.
Wedding toast · ~12s“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”William Shakespeare
Juliet asked, wherefore art thou Romeo, which means why are you Romeo, why do you have to be from the wrong family. Luckily, tonight both families are in the same…
Essay opener · ~10s“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”William Shakespeare
When Juliet asks “wherefore art thou Romeo?”, she is not asking where he is but why he must be a Montague, the one name that makes their love impossible.
Valentine's Day · ~9s“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”William Shakespeare
Juliet's “wherefore art thou Romeo” means why are you Romeo, not where are you. I've never had to ask why it's you. Happy Valentine's Day.
Essay opener · ~8s“Panem et circenses.”Juvenal
Juvenal's sneer that the Roman people, once rulers of an empire, now wanted only “bread and circuses” was aimed less at their emperors than at themselves.
Essay opener · ~10s“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”Lord Acton
Lord Acton's warning that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” came in an 1887 letter urging historians to judge popes and kings by the…
Team talk · ~11s“Pride goes before a fall.”King Solomon
The Book of Proverbs says pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. We're top of the table. That's exactly when teams stop working. Not us.
Essay opener · ~9s“Pride goes before a fall.”King Solomon
The proverb “pride goes before a fall” compresses Proverbs 16:18, which warns that “pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Essay opener · ~10s“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”Juvenal
The Roman poet Juvenal asked, “Who will guard the guards themselves?” He was joking about jealous husbands, but every debate about police oversight comes back to his…
Thanksgiving · ~12s“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens wrote, reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. So let's count the…
Sympathy card · ~9s“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”Charles Dickens
Dickens wrote that every life has many blessings and some misfortunes. This year you have had more than your share of the second. We are thinking of you.
Graduation · ~11s“Remember that time is money.”Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin told a young tradesman, “Remember that time is money.” I'd add one thing he left out. Money can be earned back. Time can't. Spend it on people.
Essay opener · ~8s“Remember that time is money.”Benjamin Franklin
Franklin's “time is money” was not a boast but a lesson in hidden costs: the half day spent idle, he explained, quietly throws away five shillings.
Retirement · ~13s“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”Mark Twain
When newspapers reported Mark Twain was dying, he told a reporter, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Some people think retirement is the end. In your case,…
Essay opener · ~12s“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”Mark Twain
Mark Twain's famous denial is usually quoted as “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” but what he wrote in 1897 was shorter and drier: “The report of my death…
New Year · ~11s“Ring out the old, ring in the new.”Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson wrote, ring out the old, ring in the new, ring out the false, ring in the true. Whatever this year took from us, let's ring in something better. Happy New Year.
Essay opener · ~9s“Ring out the old, ring in the new.”Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson's “Ring out the old, ring in the new” sounds like a party slogan, but it was written by a man who had spent seventeen years mourning his best friend.
Essay opener · ~9s“Rule of thumb.”Traditional proverb
Few phrases have been more unfairly accused than “rule of thumb,” which meant a practical estimate a century before anyone linked it to a law that never existed.
Wedding toast · ~14s“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare asked, shall I compare thee to a summer's day? and decided the answer was no, because summer ends. So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Here's…
Essay opener · ~10s“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”William Shakespeare
Sonnet 18 opens with a comparison only to reject it: a summer's day is too brief and too changeable to match the beloved, whose beauty the poem itself will preserve.
Valentine's Day · ~9s“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Shakespeare said it better than I could, so I'm borrowing it. Happy Valentine's Day.
Anniversary · ~8s“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare promised his love an eternal summer that would not fade. Another year together, and ours hasn't faded either. Happy anniversary.
Wedding toast · ~9s“She walks in Beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies.”Lord Byron
Byron wrote, “She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies.” Today, everyone in this room can see exactly what he meant.
Valentine's Day · ~7s“She walks in Beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies.”Lord Byron
You walk in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies. Byron said it first, but he never met you.
Anniversary · ~8s“She walks in Beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies.”Lord Byron
Byron wrote that all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes. After all these years, I still see both in you.
New Year · ~9s“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?”Robert Burns
In a minute we'll all sing Auld Lang Syne without knowing the words. So here's the point of it: should old friends be forgotten? Never. To all of you.
Retirement · ~10s“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?”Robert Burns
Robert Burns asked, should auld acquaintance be forgot? Not this one. Whatever comes next, we'll take a cup of kindness yet for the years we worked together.
Birthday · ~8s“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”Book of Psalms
The psalm says, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Another year numbered, and wiser than ever. Happy birthday.
New Year · ~9s“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”Book of Psalms
Psalm 90 asks, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. That's my prayer for this new year: to count the days, and make them count.
Eulogy & funeral · ~8s“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”Book of Psalms
The psalmist prayed, teach us to number our days. He numbered his well. Every one of them was spent on the people in this room.
Team talk · ~8s“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt liked to say: speak softly and carry a big stick. We don't need to talk trash before this game. We just need to be ready.
Essay opener · ~8s“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt summed up his approach to power with a saying he called West African: “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
Graduation · ~12s“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs ended his Stanford speech with words he borrowed from a catalog he loved as a kid: stay hungry, stay foolish. Keep wanting more. Keep being willing to look…
Retirement · ~9s“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs told graduates to stay hungry and stay foolish. Retirement doesn't change that advice. We expect you to be hungrier and more foolish than ever.
Essay opener · ~8s“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs's famous advice to “stay hungry, stay foolish” was itself borrowed from the farewell issue of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog.
Essay opener · ~9s“Survival of the fittest.”Herbert Spencer
“Survival of the fittest” was coined not by Charles Darwin but by the philosopher Herbert Spencer in 1864, and “fittest” meant best adapted, not strongest.
Retirement · ~11s“Tempus fugit.”Virgil
There's a Latin motto on old clocks, tempus fugit, time flies. Twenty-five years at this company flew by for us too, and we're grateful we got to spend them with you.
Essay opener · ~9s“Tempus fugit.”Virgil
Virgil's warning that time flees “beyond recall” has been carved on clocks for centuries, yet we still behave as if hours were endlessly renewable.
Eulogy & funeral · ~11s“That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”William Wordsworth
Wordsworth wrote that the best portion of a good life is its little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. Mom's life was full of them. Today, we remember.
Sympathy card · ~9s“That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”William Wordsworth
Wordsworth spoke of “little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” Your father did so many of them for us. We will not forget.
Thank a teacher · ~7s“That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”William Wordsworth
Thank you for all the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love, as Wordsworth put it. I remember them.
Graduation · ~12s“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”Neil Armstrong
When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon, he called it one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Walking across this stage is a small step too. Where it…
Retirement · ~12s“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”Neil Armstrong
Armstrong called his first step one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Thirty years ago you took one small step through that door, and look how far this…
Essay opener · ~10s“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong's words on July 20, 1969, “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” framed the Moon landing as a human achievement rather than a…
Graduation · ~12s“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King told exhausted marchers that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. He didn't mean it bends by itself. It bends because…
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”Martin Luther King Jr.
She believed what Martin Luther King said, that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. She spent her life helping it bend.
Essay opener · ~10s“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s conviction that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” adapted an image first used by the abolitionist Theodore…
Wedding toast · ~12s“The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.”Robert Burns
Robert Burns wrote that the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley, which explains the seating plan, the weather and the band. The one plan that went…
Essay opener · ~11s“The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.”Robert Burns
When Robert Burns wrote that “the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley,” he was apologizing to a field mouse whose winter nest his plough had just…
Father's Day · ~11s“The Child is father of the Man.”William Wordsworth
Wordsworth wrote that the child is father of the man. Watching you with your grandkids, Dad, I'd say the man never stopped being a child. That's the best compliment…
Birthday · ~8s“The Child is father of the Man.”William Wordsworth
Wordsworth said the child is father of the man. Happy birthday. May you keep the kid in you who still stops to look at rainbows.
Essay opener · ~8s“The Child is father of the Man.”William Wordsworth
Wordsworth's paradox, “The Child is father of the Man,” anticipated by a century the modern idea that childhood experience shapes adult character.
Wedding toast · ~12s“The course of true love never did run smooth.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote that the course of true love never did run smooth. Theirs certainly didn't: there was a long-distance year, a lost ring and one memorable camping…
Essay opener · ~10s“The course of true love never did run smooth.”William Shakespeare
Lysander's observation that “the course of true love never did run smooth” sets up the comic chaos of A Midsummer Night's Dream, where obstacles test love but do not…
Valentine's Day · ~9s“The course of true love never did run smooth.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare said the course of true love never did run smooth. Ours has had a few bumps, and I'd take every one of them again. Happy Valentine's Day.
Anniversary · ~11s“The course of true love never did run smooth.”William Shakespeare
The course of true love never did run smooth, Shakespeare said. Ours has had potholes, detours and one wrong turn in Ohio, and we're still on the road together. Happy…
Mother's Day · ~9s“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”William Ross Wallace
A poet once wrote that the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. Mom, you've been running our little world for years. Happy Mother's Day.
Essay opener · ~11s“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”William Ross Wallace
William Ross Wallace's claim that “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world” was meant as praise, but it also says a great deal about how little…
Essay opener · ~12s“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”William Shakespeare
When Gertrude remarks that “the lady doth protest too much,” she means not that the Player Queen denies too strongly but that she vows too extravagantly, a pointed…
Graduation · ~10s“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau wrote that the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. You don't have to be the mass. Don't let anyone hand you a life you didn't choose.
Essay opener · ~12s“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau's claim that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” is not a cry of despair but the opening of an argument, in Walden's first chapter, that people…
Thank a teacher · ~7s“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”Plutarch
Plutarch said the mind isn't a bottle to fill but wood to set alight. You lit something in me this year. Thank you.
Graduation · ~9s“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”Plutarch
Plutarch wrote that the mind does not need filling like a bottle, but kindling like wood. Our teachers lit the fire. Now it's our job to keep it burning.
Essay opener · ~9s“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”Plutarch
Plutarch's image of the mind as wood to be kindled rather than a bottle to be filled remains the sharpest two-line critique of rote learning ever written.
Graduation · ~15s“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1933, with banks closing all around him, Franklin Roosevelt told a frightened country that the only thing it had to fear was fear itself. You are walking into an…
Team talk · ~10s“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, and he said it when things were genuinely bad. Nerves don't win or lose this for us. What we do in the…
Essay opener · ~10s“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”Franklin D. Roosevelt
When Franklin D. Roosevelt declared in 1933 that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he was describing panic as a force that could deepen a crisis on its…
Team talk · ~11s“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”King Solomon
Ecclesiastes says the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. We weren't the fastest team this year, and we still finished on top. Thank you for every…
Graduation · ~9s“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”King Solomon
The Bible says the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but time and chance happen to everyone. Be ready when your chance comes.
Essay opener · ~9s“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”King Solomon
Ecclesiastes refuses the comforting idea that merit always wins: “the race is not to the swift,” the Teacher says, because “time and chance happeneth to them all.”
Graduation · ~12s“The unexamined life is not worth living.”Socrates
Socrates told the jury that sentenced him to death that the unexamined life is not worth living. Your education doesn't end today. Keep asking the hard questions,…
Essay opener · ~9s“The unexamined life is not worth living.”Socrates
Socrates' claim that “the unexamined life is not worth living” was not a classroom maxim but his defense at a trial that ended in his execution.
Thanksgiving · ~12s“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.”Abraham Lincoln
In 1863, in the middle of a civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked the country to give thanks for fruitful fields and healthful skies. If they could find things to be…
Essay opener · ~8s“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.”Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation opens with “fruitful fields and healthful skies,” a strikingly peaceful image for a nation at war with itself.
Graduation · ~10s“This above all, to thine own self be true.”William Shakespeare
In Hamlet, a father sending his son out into the world ends his advice with this: to thine own self be true. Of everything you hear today, keep that one.
Retirement · ~10s“This above all, to thine own self be true.”William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Polonius said, to thine own self be true. For thirty years, you never pretended to be anyone else, and that is why we trusted you.
Essay opener · ~11s“This above all, to thine own self be true.”William Shakespeare
When Polonius tells his son “to thine own self be true” in Act 1 of Hamlet, the advice sounds noble, but it comes from a man who spends the rest of the play spying and…
Essay opener · ~10s“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”George Santayana
George Santayana's observation that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” comes from a 1905 argument that progress depends not on change but…
Graduation · ~12s“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”George Santayana
The philosopher George Santayana wrote that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Remember this place, remember the people who helped you, and…
Essay opener · ~15s“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin's warning that “those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” was written in…
Essay opener · ~11s“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”William Shakespeare
In Hamlet's soliloquy “To be, or not to be,” the prince does not debate revenge but something more basic: whether life, with all its “slings and arrows,” is worth…
Wedding toast · ~11s“To err is human, to forgive, divine.”Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope wrote that to err is human, to forgive, divine. You're both going to err. Be quick to forgive, and you'll have a marriage that feels a little divine.
Essay opener · ~11s“To err is human, to forgive, divine.”Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope's line “To err is human, to forgive, divine” was written in 1711 not as a sermon but as advice to literary critics, urging generosity toward writers'…
Eulogy & funeral · ~13s“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”King Solomon
Ecclesiastes says to every thing there is a season: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to weep, and a time to laugh. Today is a time to weep. But we will…
Retirement · ~13s“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”King Solomon
To every thing there is a season: a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. You planted here for thirty years, and we're all still growing from…
Wedding toast · ~7s“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”King Solomon
Ecclesiastes says there is a time to embrace. For these two, that time is now, and for the rest of their lives.
Sympathy card · ~8s“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”King Solomon
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. This is a time to mourn, and we are mourning with you.
Father's Day · ~10s“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”Book of Proverbs
Proverbs says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. I'm getting old, Dad, and I haven't departed. Thank you.
Thank a teacher · ~7s“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”Book of Proverbs
Train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it. Thank you for the training. It's going to last a lifetime.
Graduation · ~14s“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”Robert Frost
Robert Frost wrote about two roads that, if you read closely, were really about the same. What made the difference wasn't the road. It was the traveler. Today you…
Retirement · ~14s“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”Robert Frost
Frost wrote, two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Thirty years ago, you took the road into this…
Essay opener · ~12s“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”Robert Frost
Robert Frost's “The Road Not Taken” is often read as a celebration of nonconformity, but the poem admits the two paths were “really about the same,” making it a…
Team talk · ~10s“Veni, vidi, vici.”Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar summed up one of his fastest wins in three words: veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. Let's give them nothing more to write about than that.
Essay opener · ~7s“Veni, vidi, vici.”Julius Caesar
Caesar's report from Zela, “veni, vidi, vici,” is perhaps the most famous example of saying a great deal with almost nothing.
Graduation · ~11s“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde wrote that we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Nobody here is perfect. But you've spent four years looking up. Keep doing it.
Essay opener · ~10s“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”Oscar Wilde
Wilde gives the line “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” to Lord Darlington, a lovesick dandy whose friends immediately mock him for…
Essay opener · ~12s“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”Thomas Jefferson
The Declaration of Independence asserted in 1776 that “all men are created equal,” a promise that generations of Americans, from abolitionists to suffragists to civil…
Graduation · ~12s“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”Thomas Jefferson
In 1776 a group of men wrote that all men are created equal, and most of them did not live up to it. Every generation since has had to decide what those words really…
Team talk · ~15s“We shall fight on the beaches.”Winston Churchill
In 1940 Churchill told Parliament: we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender. Our stakes are a lot…
Essay opener · ~10s“We shall fight on the beaches.”Winston Churchill
When Winston Churchill vowed in June 1940 that Britain would “fight on the beaches” and “never surrender,” he was speaking days after the evacuation of Dunkirk, at the…
Graduation · ~10s“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”King Solomon
Ecclesiastes says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Not just the big jobs. Whatever is in front of you. That's how careers are built.
Retirement · ~11s“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”King Solomon
There's a verse that says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” For thirty years, that was simply how you worked. Now go do retirement with your…
Anniversary · ~8s“Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.”Book of Ruth
Ruth said, whither thou goest, I will go. Through four houses, three cities and one very long road trip, I have. Happy anniversary.
Wedding toast · ~9s“Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.”Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth says, whither thou goest, I will go, and thy people shall be my people. As of today, we are your people. Welcome to the family.
Eulogy & funeral · ~12s“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln once asked a divided country to go forward with malice toward none and charity for all. That was how he lived. He held no grudges, and he made room for everyone.
Retirement · ~10s“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's phrase fits a long career well: with malice toward none, with charity for all. You leave here without a single enemy, which in this business is a real…
Essay opener · ~8s“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”Abraham Lincoln
In his second inaugural address, delivered weeks before the Confederacy's collapse, Abraham Lincoln called for peace “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”
Memorial & Veterans Day · ~8s“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln asked the nation to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan. Today we honor that promise.
Retirement · ~11s“Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.”Voltaire
In Candide, an old farmer says work keeps away three great evils: boredom, vice and need. You've earned your rest, but knowing you, you'll find a garden to cultivate…
Essay opener · ~9s“Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.”Voltaire
Voltaire's answer to philosophical optimism comes from an old farmer, not a philosopher: work, he says, keeps away “three great evils, boredom, vice, and need.”
New Year · ~10s“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson said, write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. So my resolution isn't to wait for a better year. It's to make better use of the days.
Birthday · ~7s“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson said every day is the best day in the year. Today, for you, it's literally true. Happy birthday.
Graduation · ~10s“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson warned that the great illusion is thinking the important day is some other day. Write it on your heart: every day is the best day in the year, including this one.
Christmas · ~10s“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”Francis Pharcellus Church
In 1897 a newspaper told a little girl named Virginia that Santa exists as certainly as love and generosity exist. Looking around this table tonight, I'd say they were…
Essay opener · ~9s“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”Francis Pharcellus Church
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” is remembered as a kindness to a child, but Church's editorial is really a defense of everything that is real yet unseen.
Team talk · ~10s“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky, who scored more goals than anyone in NHL history, said you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take. Tonight, nobody passes up an open shot.
Graduation · ~11s“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky said you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take. Apply for the job you think you won't get. Ask the question you think is stupid. Take the shot.
Essay opener · ~10s“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky's maxim that “you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take,” first reported in The Hockey News in 1983, has become a universal argument for taking…
Graduation · ~12s“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.”Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran told parents, your children are not your children; you are the bows from which they are sent forth. Today, Mom and Dad, you let go of the string. Watch…
Mother's Day · ~7s“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.”Kahlil Gibran
Gibran wrote that parents are the bows and children the arrows. Thank you for bending, Mom, so that I could fly.
Father's Day · ~8s“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.”Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran says children come through their parents, not from them. Dad, thank you for being the bow that sent me out into the world.
Graduation · ~14s“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.”Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs told Stanford graduates, a year after facing cancer, that their time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Today, a lot of people have…
Eulogy & funeral · ~10s“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.”Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs said our time is limited, so we shouldn't waste it living someone else's life. She never did. Every day of her life was unmistakably her own.
Essay opener · ~10s“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.”Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs's warning that “your time is limited” came in the section of his 2005 Stanford speech devoted to death, delivered a year after he was diagnosed with cancer.
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Guides by occasion
Wedding toast
Lines that work in a best man, maid of honor or parent toast.
17 lines →Graduation
For commencement speeches, valedictorians and cards.
46 lines →Eulogy & funeral
Gentle, fitting lines for remembering someone.
20 lines →Retirement
For send-offs, farewell speeches and cards.
21 lines →Team talk
For coaches, managers and anyone rallying a group.
21 lines →Essay opener
Quotes that start an essay well, with how to cite them.
113 lines →Birthday
For birthday cards, toasts and milestone birthdays like 40, 50 and 80.
6 lines →Anniversary
For anniversary cards and toasts, from the first year to the golden fiftieth.
8 lines →Mother's Day
Lines about mothers for cards, posts and Mother's Day speeches.
6 lines →Father's Day
Lines about fathers for cards, posts and Father's Day toasts.
7 lines →Christmas
For Christmas cards, letters and holiday toasts.
6 lines →New Year
For New Year's Eve toasts, cards and resolutions.
7 lines →Thanksgiving
Grace, gratitude and toasts for the Thanksgiving table.
6 lines →Valentine's Day
Romantic lines for cards and notes, with their real sources.
8 lines →Memorial & Veterans Day
For remembrance services, veterans events and tributes to the fallen.
6 lines →Sympathy card
Short, gentle lines to write in a sympathy or condolence card.
7 lines →Thank a teacher
For teacher appreciation cards, end-of-year notes and staff speeches.
7 lines →